Federally Licensed Firearms Retailers Overwhelmingly Oppose "Universal" Background Checks

According to an online survey of federally licensed firearms retailers conducted this week by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, those retailers overwhelmingly oppose so-called "universal" background checks.

As noted an NSSF press release, when asked whether they supported or opposed "universal background checks," 85.7 percent of the responding firearms retailers said that they opposed them. To the question of whether they believed that such legislation would prevent criminals from obtaining firearms, a nearly unanimous 95.7 percent said no.

In addition, the retailers reported that that they feared these proposals would result in greater regulatory and record-keeping burdens, increased risk of license revocation for record-keeping errors related to private party sales of firearms, additional delays in processing of National Instant Criminal Background Check System requests, low government-set fees that will not cover their costs, and increased liability exposure from having to process private-party transactions.

The online survey of 640 federal licensed firearms retailers nationwide was conducted on Monday, March 18.

Please continue to contact your U.S. Senators and tell them to oppose "universal" background check legislation.  To identify and contact your elected officials in Washington, D.C., use the "Write Your Reps" feature at www.NRAILA.org, or you can reach your member of Congress by phone at 202-224-3121.